The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) Project Information Document (PID) Appraisal Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 11-Apr-2023 | Report No: PIDA34734 Feb 01, 2023 Page 1 of 13 The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) BASIC INFORMATION OPS_TABLE_BASIC_DATA A. Basic Project Data Country Project ID Project Name Parent Project ID (if any) Eastern and Southern Africa P175731 SADC Regional Statistics Project Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Practice Area (Lead) EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA 27-Mar-2023 15-May-2023 Poverty and Equity Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Investment Project Financing Southern African Institut National de la Development Community Statistique et des Etudes (SADC), Republic of Economiques (INSEED), Zambia, Democratic Southern African Republic of São Tomé and Development Community, Príncipe, Republic of Instituto Nacional de Madagascar, Union of the Estatística (INE), National Comoros, Republic of Statistical Office (NSO), Malawi Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats), National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) Proposed Development Objective(s) The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to strengthen the institutional capacity of SADC and participating countries to produce, disseminate and use quality statistics while increasing regional harmonization and collaboration. Components Component 1: Harmonization, quality, and dissemination of core social and economic statistics (SADC) Component 2: Close gaps in data production, statistical capacity, and data use at country level Project Management PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) SUMMARY -NewFin1 Total Project Cost 104.50 Total Financing 104.50 of which IBRD/IDA 104.50 March 22, 2023 Page 2 of 13 The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) Financing Gap 0.00 DETAILS -NewFinEnh1 World Bank Group Financing International Development Association (IDA) 104.50 IDA Credit 75.00 IDA Grant 29.50 Environmental and Social Risk Classification Moderate Decision The review did authorize the team to appraise and negotiate Other Decision (as needed) B. Introduction and Context 1. Good quality data – timely, reliable, accurate, detailed and accessible – are an integral part of good governance and contribute to key development objectives. The World Development Report 2021 (World Bank, 2021) highlights three institutional pathways that link data to development. First, public actors including governments and international organizations use data to support evidence-based policies and improve service delivery. Second, civil society uses data to monitor government policies and individuals use data to monitor and access services. Finally, private firms use data to improve production processes and grow their productivity, thus contributing to wider economic growth. Thus, people (society, governments, and firms) need to transform data into useful information to improve lives; without such a transformation, data do not support development. Data are key to efficiently allocate public resources under constrained fiscal space, to track progress, and assess the impacts of public programs and policies. Statistical production is also a pillar in the construction of systems to implement multi-sectoral programs, for instance to combat chronic malnutrition or manage disaster risks. When accessible to the civil society, data promote transparency and accountability in policy making, essential elements of good governance and public trust. 2. Good-quality, reliable, and harmonized statistics also contribute to the regional integration agenda. Inclusive growth and poverty reduction can be accelerated through closer regional collaboration and integration by expanding access to markets and generating more investment, innovation and competition.1 While Sub-Saharan 1 Choi et al. 2020. The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All. Washington, DC: World Bank. March 22, 2023 Page 3 of 13 The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) Africa (SSA) has made progress in economic integration, the pace has been slow. Strengthening regional economic blocks like SADC is important to accelerate sub-regional integration. Building Southern African Development Community (SADC) data infrastructure is crucial for generating evidence and knowledge about the benefits and costs of regional integration to inform implementation of regional policies at the national level. Finally, regional collaboration in data production will ensure that countries fulfill regional quality standards in their data production, including harmonization and better comparability, and thus contribute to the regional data infrastructure and policy making towards broader and more efficient integration. 3. The proposed project seeks to modernize beneficiaries’ data ecosystems by addressing gaps in data production and use. Maximizing the value of data in development requires narrowing data and statistical capacity gaps through addressing both the demand and supply sides of the challenge. This requires “… long-term, stable financing of data; investments in statistical and technical capacity; and laws conducive to safe data production and reuse. Other areas that must be addressed include […] policy makers’ lack of incentives for and interest in using data, low trust in the quality of public intent data, and lack of infrastructure for accessing and using the data.�2 The proposed project seeks to strengthen the data governance framework by supporting the generation and use of data in a safe, ethical, and secure way, while also delivering value equitably. Country Context 4. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), in particular East and Southern Africa, remains the poorest and one of the most unequal regions in the world, recording only modest progress in recent years as a result of multiple cyclical and structural constraints. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is a major driver of poverty reduction, and throughout the 1990s and early 2000s many poor people around the world managed to escape poverty thanks to high and sustained growth rates. However, GDP per capita growth in SSA has been weak and erratic, and has been falling in recent years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic an estimated 26 to 40 million people were pushed into poverty in SSA. Structurally, high fertility rates perpetuate cycles of poverty by keeping dependency ratios high, investment in human capital low, and constraining female productive employment. High inequality is strongly linked to poverty, especially by structural factors such as isolation, underdeveloped markets and uneven access to them, and conflict. The region is also highly exposed and vulnerable to climate-related shocks, which have disproportionate impacts on the poorest populations. 5. These constraints are salient among the proposed project’s participating countries – Comoros, Madagascar, Malawi, Zambia–five Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Using the poverty line of $US2.15 per day, the most recent estimated poverty rates in these countries vary between 15.6 percent in São Tomé and Príncipe to 70.1 percent in Malawi. Together, they are home to over 37 million poor people, 12 percent of the entire population of the SADC region (and 24 percent of the SADC region’s poor population). These countries have a high common reliance on primary sectors and high vulnerability to climate shocks, which time and again cause setbacks to their economic progress. Moreover, geographic poverty traps, such as high rural populations with low access to services and connectivity, are pervasive among them. The poverty reduction agenda can only be accelerated in this region through the implementation of evidence-based economic and social policies in a wide range of sectors, such as macro-financial to social, environmental, productive, etc. This requires exhaustive, timely, comparable and accessible data, and statistics to inform the design and monitoring of policies and programs. 6. In addition to high poverty, the proposed participating countries in this project face shortcomings in good governance, including transparency and public spending efficiency. By several indicators, SSA scores low on 2 World Bank (2021). WDR 2021 Overview, page 7. March 22, 2023 Page 4 of 13 The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) quality of governance.3 As Systematic Country Diagnostics (SCDs) for these countries argue, improving the quality of governance is a key cross-cutting priority to advance the World Bank’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. This includes transparency in decisions regarding resource allocation and results linked to public spending, which would improve government accountability. Statistical capacity weaknesses result in unavailable or scattered data, which is seldom harmonized across countries, limiting its use and relevance for policy making. Greater access to and transparency and timeliness of government data and monitoring systems are needed to equip those providing commentary on policy making with the information they need. Often, lack of timely and relevant information constitutes a major barrier to transparent and efficient policy decisions. Sectoral and Institutional Context 7. Sub-Saharan Africa has made substantial progress in the production of statistics over the last 20 years. From the early 2000s, strategic planning through National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) has been adopted, with most African countries having implemented one or more strategies by 2020. Several countries use the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA). The geographic coverage and timeliness of the consumer price index (CPI) has also improved. External trade statistics are harmonized in many countries. The number of household surveys that collect data on monetary and non-monetary dimensions of poverty has increased. Between 2016 and 2018, for instance, 45 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and 7 countries in SADC conducted or were conducting household surveys. The increase in the World Bank Statistical Capacity Indicator (SCI) confirms the overall progress in statistical capacity building in SSA, but the continent still lags other regions.4 The SCI for SSA countries (excluding high-income countries) increased from 55.2 in 2004 to 59.0 in 2019. Despite this progress, the SCI for SSA is still the lowest among developing regions. Best performers are Europe and Central Asia. 8. In SADC countries, remaining statistical capacity weaknesses result in unavailable or scattered data, which is seldom harmonized across countries, limiting its use and relevance for policy making. Comoros, Madagascar, Malawi, and Zambia score only 46.7, 54.4, 70, and 53.3 respectively, out of 100 on the World Bank’s SCI, while the SADC country group scores 61.5; and São Tomé and Principe scores 57.8 (Figure 2). The more recent Statistical Performance Index (SPI) on the other hand, has ranked Malawi (the top SCI performer in the group) in the second- lowest quintile on the development of its National Statistical System (NSS). Data standards are outdated, access to data is limited and so is the use of data for policy making. National monitoring and evaluation systems (M&E) used in SADC member states are at an early stage and face sustainability challenges. Moreover, insufficient gender- disaggregated statistics hinder the region’s effort to track progress on gender equality and to design relevant policies in response. There has been a modest increase in the SADC regional SCI since 2004, showing a better performance than the average for SSA countries. That said, there remain wide gaps in capacity across SADC member states. Comoros, Angola, and Democratic Republic of Congo have the lowest scores (42.1, 46.7 and 47.1, respectively) while the best performers, Mauritius, South Africa, and Malawi, score about twice higher as the lowest. 3 One example is the Ibrahim Index for Good Governance in Africa, which covers four governance dimensions: security and rule of law; participation, right and inclusion, foundation for economic opportunities and human development. According to this index, the SADC average score was 53.9 in 2021 and had barely improved in a decade. Meanwhile, Comoros (lowest score at 42.5), and Zambia (50) saw their scores decline in that period. The score improved in São Tomé and Príncipe (59.5), Malawi (54.6) and notably in Madagascar (by 3 points), although it remains the lowest after Comoros in the group at 44.2 out of 100. 4The SCI provides a score for every country in the world on the methodology, data sources, and periodicity and timeliness of core economic and social statistics. March 22, 2023 Page 5 of 13 The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) 9. A World Bank-led statistical needs assessment tool implemented in SADC countries in 2020 shows that while the region performs well in organization and infrastructure, notable challenges are observed in data analysis and indicators as well as in data collection and openness .5 The tool aims to assess the strengths and weaknesses of national statistical systems along six dimensions: (i) Organization and Infrastructure; (ii) Human Resource (HR) issues; (iii) Data collection; (iv) Analysis and indicators; (v) Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and systems; and (vi) Methodologies. The average score for SADC countries was 2.6 out of 4 in 2020. The two dimensions with the lowest score in the project’s participating countries are (iii) and (iv), while the highest -scored dimension is (i). The proposed project aims to precisely strengthen the weakest areas of statistical systems. C. Proposed Development Objective(s) Development Objective(s) 10. The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to strengthen the institutional capacity of SADC and participating countries to produce, disseminate and use quality statistics while increasing regional harmonization and collaboration. Key Results 11. The achievement of the PDO level results will be measured by three high-level indicators. The proposed indicators cover core areas of statistical systems including production, as well as harmonization, dissemination, and use of statistics: 1) PDO Indicator 1: Improved statistical production: measured by the average of the “Data Collection and Openness� score from the World Bank’s Questionnaire for Evaluating Statistical Capacity among SADC Countries, for areas where the project’s activities are expected to improve the participating country’s score. This indicator collects information on 29 different types of data sources in 7 areas produced by the National Statistical System and managed by the National Statistical Office. The indicator takes a value between 0 and 4 (where 4 corresponds to a system aligned with international best practices). 2) PDO Indicator 2: Increased number of high-quality, harmonized statistics: measured by the “Data Analysis and Indicators� score from the World Bank’s Questionnaire for Evaluating Statistical Capacity among SADC Countries, for areas where the project’s activities are expected to improve the participating country’s score. This section measures 68 core social and economic data in 9 areas, harmonized across SADC member countries and includes compliance with international best practices in methodology and timeliness. 3) PDO Indicator 3: Improved use of statistics: measured by the number of formal requests, including downloads from the NSO website, of datasets and reports supported by the project. 6 5 This assessment was an extensive survey covering the core domains in statistical regulation, production, and analysis. The tool is designed to evaluate statistical systems of each participating country, as well as to facilitate comparability between country statistical systems and group countries depending on their strengths and weaknesses or their NSSs. The questionnaire is divided in six categories or dimensions: (i) Organization and Infrastructure; (ii) HR issues; (iii) Data collection; (iv) Analysis and indicators; (v) IT infrastructure and systems; and (vi) Methodologies. Each category includes a series of questions. Respondents are asked to rank items on a 0-4 scale. 6 Along with counterparts, the World Bank team will define the list of relevant reports that will be released through NSOs’ web sites. March 22, 2023 Page 6 of 13 The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) 12. The first two indicators refer to the Data Collection and Analysis and Indicators areas of the assessment described above, as they capture most closely the data production, quality and harmonization areas of the PDO. Area “(3) Data collection,� evaluates the type and frequency of surveys conducted (including labor force surveys, continuous multi-topic surveys, household income and expenditure surveys, agricultural surveys, health and demographics surveys); population, agriculture, and economic censuses; economic activity data and service provision data collection; social statistics; administrative data; business registers; tax administration registers and judicial registers. Area “(4) Analysis and indicators,� evaluates how much data are rigorous in quality, comparable, and timely. This area covers macroeconomic indicators and National Accounts; poverty indicators; labor statistics; health and demography indicators; education indicators; access to services such as water, sanitation and electricity; business activity; government and finance statistics, for instance central and local government accounts; and other indicators—peace, violence, security, violence against children, gender-based violence, and cultural statistics. Taken together, these questions cover many of the types of statistics required to monitor the SDGs. The proposed project is expected to raise the performance of areas 3 and 4 by increasing the number and frequency of surveys, social statistics (including poverty, health, education, and gender), business registers and economic statistics, macro indicators and National Accounts, labor statistics, and agricultural statistics. 13. The outcomes of the activities planned under this project are also expected to improve the World Bank’s Statistical Performance Indicator (SPI). The project is expected to increase the countries’ performance in pillars 4 and 5 (data sources and data infrastructure) of the SPI, by supporting key data collection activities which in turn will make available many indicators needed to monitor the SDGs (pillar 3) and feed some international databases (pillar 1). Regional statistical harmonization will bring countries closer to international guidelines in several areas, notably National Accounts. Activities related to data analysis and dissemination will directly help improve pillar 2 of the SPI, in addition to contributing to the improvement of the pillar 1 of the SPI though the support to better use of data for public policy. D. Project Description 14. The project will enhance the production, dissemination, and use of harmonized high-quality statistics. With the help of the project and coordination of the regional body of SADC, quality and harmonized D4P statistics will be produced and disseminated. The timely release of better disseminated statistics will lead to the enhanced use of statistics. This, in turn, will encourage more production of statistics, creating a positive feedback loop that strengthens the sustainability of the project objective. NSOs and specialized agencies from participating national governments will receive specialized training and capacity-building activities on national monitoring and evaluation systems in order to promote evidence-based policy making. At a national level, a wide range of technical assistance activities will close some of the critical statistical capacity gaps based on specific country-by- country assessments and strategic development priorities. Figure 6 presents the results chain framework. The proposed regional project will include: 1) five International Development Association (IDA) countries, namely: four SADC member states—Comoros, Madagascar, Malawi, Zambia—and a non-SADC member state, São Tomé and Príncipe, and 2) the SADC Secretariat. The project has three components. Component 1: Regional harmonization, quality, and dissemination of core social and economic statistics. This component seeks to address the challenge of limited capacity to monitor economic progress and inform regional policy decisions. It aims to support the implementation of continental and regional agreements on statistics – specifically, SADC’s RSDS 2020-2030. This will improve the harmonization and quality of statistics; increase human resource capacity of SADC Secretariat to promote harmonization; and increase access, dissemination, and use of data and statistics to support evidence-based policy and decision making. This component, therefore, underscores statistics as a March 22, 2023 Page 7 of 13 The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) public good for regional integration. Component 2: Close gaps in data production, statistical capacity, and equipment and materials at country level addresses capacity constraints specific to each country NSOs to contribute to the RSDS. The country-level component seeks to extend the D4P package in participating countries under the harmonizing guidelines, recognizing initial institutional and human resource capacities and acknowledging the amount of existing core statistics. Component 3: Project Management will ensure the implementation of the project in each participating country and SADC Secretariat and will be embedded within Component 1 for SADC and within Component 2 for each country project. The World Bank’s support is planned for five years. The estimated cost of the overall project is $104.5 million, to be provided through a combination of IDA credits and grants from country-specific and regional windows. The structure of the proposed project is summarized in Table 1. Table 1: SADC regional project structure and financing Component Description TOTAL SADC Malawi Madagascar Zambia Comoros STP (million US$) Component 1: Harmonization, quality, and dissemination of core social and economic statistics (SADC) 10.0 10.0 1.1 Improving capacity for data production, management and dissemination 5.0 5.0 1.2 Improve access and usage of regional statistics 4.0 4.0 1.3 Project Management - SADC 1.0 1.0 Component 2: Close gaps in data production, statistical capacity, and data use at country level 86.0 0.0 13.6 42.1 26.7 1.1 2.5 2.1 Close data production gaps 55.2 11.2 22.8 18.3 0.9 2.1 2.2 Close gaps in skills, equipment, and other statistical inputs 21.8 1.5 13.6 6.2 0.3 0.2 2.3 Promote data dissemination, use and open access 9.0 0.9 5.7 2.2 0.0 0.2 Component 3: Project management and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) 8.5 1.4 2.9 3.3 0.4 0.5 Total 104.5 10.0 15.0 45.0 30.0 1.5 3.0 . . Legal Operational Policies Triggered? Projects on International Waterways OP 7.50 No March 22, 2023 Page 8 of 13 The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) Projects in Disputed Areas OP 7.60 No Summary of Assessment of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts . 15. The environmental and social risk rating has been classified as Moderate. Key adverse environmental and social risks and impacts relate to ensuring that (i) minor civil works and installation of ICT equipment are managed adequately considering mitigation hierarchy, particularly in relation to construction waste generation and occupational health and safety issues; (ii) the replacement, transportation and disposal of old ITC equipment (e- waste) as well new acquired are undertaken properly; (iii) Technical Assistance (TA) activities including face-to- face trainings, workshops and statistical survey follows prevention measure against COVID-19; (iv) the Terms of Reference for TA type-2 activities (review or development of new policies, plans & strategies) have been reviewed and approved by WB to ensure consistency with the ESF; (v) any statistical guidelines and frameworks established under the project include considerations of digital data protection and digital security; (vi) there is appropriate stakeholder engagement at the regional and national level with all stakeholders, including civil society and marginalized groups, in a manner that is understandable and transparent and explains the benefits and impacts of the activities; (vii) labor conditions, especially with regards to HR restructuring activities, salary re-adjustments and skills needs assessments, as well as occupational health and safety (minor cuts and injuries, road safety, etc. during work); (viii) ensuring that inclusion and data protection covers vulnerable and marginalized groups; and (iv) possible risks of sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment (SEA/SH) at the work place and during the roll out of surveys. Although capacity of the PIUs and NSOs to manage environmental and social risk is generally limited, the risks generated by the proposed activities are possible to mitigate through identified measures. 16. The following standards have been identified as relevant for the project; ESS1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts, ESS2 Labor and Working Conditions, ESS3 Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention and Management, ESS4 Community Health and Safety, and ESS10 Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure. Environment and Social Commitment Plans, Stakeholder Engagement Plans, have been produced for each country and SADC before appraisal, and Project Operational Manuals (POMs) and Labor Management Practices (LMPs) will be developed before beginning project activities on the ground. The project also has prepared draft Codes of Practices for e-Waste Management, and COVID-19 Contingency Plans for each country and for SADC prior to appraisal. E. Implementation Institutional and Implementation Arrangements 17. The SADC Secretariat will be the implementing agency for Component 1. A PIU will be integrated in the SADC Secretariat which will be responsible for program management, including procurement, financial management, and M&E. The PIU will also be responsible for coordination between NSOs, organizing training events, and monitoring progress. It will also be responsible for quality control and preparing in-house analysis. An initial assessment during project preparation showed the need to strengthen the capacity of the SADC Secretariat in human resources. Therefore, resident consultants with adequate skills in World Bank operations will be hired to support the PIU that will be put in place. These consultants would include, but will not be limited March 22, 2023 Page 9 of 13 The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) to, a coordinator, and finance and procurement specialists as required. A Steering Committee will also be established to offer advice to the project coordinator and facilitate project M&E of progress, to ensure that the project makes effective use of the project assets, to use influence and authority to assist the project in achieving its objective and consider proposed project budgets by the PIU. 18. In Madagascar, the main implementing agency for the Program will be the National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT). The INSTAT is a Semi-Autonomous Government Agency that operates in accordance with the Statistics Act No. 2018-004. INSTAT is managed by a Director General and a team of 9 directors who are appointed by the Council of Ministers. The Director General will serve as the program coordinator and will be supported by a deputy program coordinator. The responsibilities of the coordinator include facilitating supervision missions and engagement with INSTAT staff responsible for and working on delivering various Program areas. To provide oversight to the Program, the Board of Directors will serve as a Program Steering Committee (PSC). The PSC shall have the responsibility of overseeing the progress and effectiveness of the Program; monitoring the achievement of results; ensuring adequate budget provision for the full duration of the Program; and providing policy direction. 19. In Malawi, the project will be implemented by the National Statistical Office (NSO). The NSO of Malawi is the main government department responsible for the collection and dissemination of official statistics. With headquarters based in Zomba, its 300 employees operate under the 2013 Statistics Act. The NSO Headquarters contains the offices of the Commissioner of Statistics and Deputy Commissioner of Statistics, together with the general administration, accounts and human resources departments. The administration section also deals with first enquiries for statistical data from the general public, and with product sales. The commissioner will oversee the project, and NSO will appoint a project coordinator and will establish a PIU, staffed with Project Manager, Financial Management and Procurement Specialists, a Social and Environmental Specialist, and Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist. 20. In Sao Tome and Principe, INE and the Fiduciary Agency for Project Administration (Agência Fiduciária de Administração do Projetos – AFAP) will both be responsible for implementing the project. As the official provider of statistics in STP, INE is the main beneficiary of the project. Therefore, having INE responsible for the management and coordination roles will ensure ownership as well as an efficient project implementation and on-the-job capacity building for project management. INE will be in charge of Project Coordination Monitoring and Evaluation , and the Project Administration Fiduciary Agency (AFAP) will be responsible for the fiduciary and ESF activities of the project given that its financial management capacity is adequate to meet the minimum requirements of the Bank. Having implemented complex IDA-financed projects, AFAP has extensive experience with Bank procurement rules and procedures, which would help the implementation of the project. The inclusion of coordination and M&E within INE builds on INE’s existing experience participating in WB projects and will ensure more ownership and better technical oversight of the activities. 21. In Comoros, the Ministry of Finance, through the Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEED), will be the main implementing agency for the project, responsible for its coordination, management, and overall implementation. Subject to their availability, the coordinator, accountant, and procurement specialist of the Comoros Statistical Project will be part of the coordination unit of the project respectively as project coordinator, Administrative Officer of the project, and procurement officer. This is justified by the good management shown by this team in the previous STATCAP project and it will allow the new project to benefit from the achievements of this team through the capacity building they have received. The coordination team should also include a secretary, a monitoring and evaluation officer, an accountant, a procurement officer, a driver, and office management staff. Members of the coordination team should have the required qualifications as established by the TDRs provided by INSEED with the no-objection of the World Bank. March 22, 2023 Page 10 of 13 The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) Training activities in financial management, procurement, and project coordination will be provided to strengthen the capacities and skills of the coordination team. 22. In Zambia, the project will be implemented by the Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats). The Statistics Act 2018 designates ZamStats as an autonomous institution that has the sole responsibility of publishing official statistics and which develops and coordinates the integrated National Statistical System (NSS) for Zambia. The NSO is overseen and governed by a Board of Directors and is managed by a Management team with the Statistician General at the helm. The NSO intends to establish a Project Implementation Unit (PIU), which will implement the Project in Zambia. The PIU will be hosted at the ZamStats building in the capital city, Lusaka, and will be established in accordance with the agreed fiduciary arrangements of the Project. It will comprise of: Project Coordinator (who will report to the Statistician General), Deputy Project Coordinator, Component Managers (x3), Financial Management Specialist, Procurement Specialist, M&E Officer, Environmental and Social Safeguards Officer, and Administrative Assistant. The terms and conditions of service of staff posted to the PIU will comply with and follow guidance from the Emoluments Commission and the Ministry of Finance. The process for the recruitment of PIU staff will be guided, approved and overseen by the Board, and receive the no objection of the World Bank. To provide technical strategic direction and oversight to the Project, the National Statistics Coordinating Committee – a committee of 15 Directors from institutions representing 15 key sectors for national statistics – will serve as the Project Steering Committee (PSC). The PSC will: provide policy and strategic direction to the Project; ensure financial resource adequacy and reliability, and Project compliance with fiduciary requirements; ensure oversight of progress and achievements of the Project; ensure effective support to mitigate risks and emerging challenges; and ensure appropriate monitoring and evaluation of achieved Project results. . CONTACT POINT World Bank Ana Maria Oviedo Silva Senior Economist Javier Eduardo Baez Ramirez Lead Economist Borrower/Client/Recipient Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe Republic of Madagascar March 22, 2023 Page 11 of 13 The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) Republic of Malawi Republic of Zambia Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mubita Luwabelwa Director of Policy Planning and Resource Mobilization, SADC mluwabelwa@sadc.int Union of the Comoros Implementing Agencies Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEED) Ounais Hamidou Deputy CEO ounais1@yahoo.fr Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE) Elsa Cardoso Director General elsacardoso123@hotmail.com National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) Dera ANDRIAMBOLOLONA Programs Director dp@ugpinstat.mg National Statistical Office (NSO) Lizzie Chikoti Commissioner of Statistics, National Statistical Office of M chikotilizzie@gmail.com Feb 01, 2023 Page 12 of 13 The World Bank SADC Regional Statistics Project (P175731) Southern African Development Community Deepchandsingh Jagai Senior Officer djagai@sadc.int Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) Mulenga J.J Musepa Interim Statisticial General Mulengajj.musepa@zamstats.gov.zm FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1000 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects APPROVAL Ana Maria Oviedo Silva Task Team Leader(s): Javier Eduardo Baez Ramirez Approved By Practice Manager/Manager: Country Director: Mohammed Dalil Essakali 11-Apr-2023 Feb 01, 2023 Page 13 of 13